A Can’t Miss Summer Conference on Inbound Marketing for Schools

Inbound_Internet_Marketing_logoI first met Brendan Schneider virtually through his blog, www.schneiderb.com. I quickly discovered that we are both passionate about helping schools grow by using inbound marketing strategies that work in today’s world. And, we also have a common affinity for cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers!

What I appreciate about Brendan is that he writes about his own personal inbound marketing experiences at Sewickley Academy in his blog. Brendan is a thought-leader, inbound marketing guru and practitioner in the field of independent school enrollment and marketing leadership.

Last Spring I had the opportunity to speak at a one-day conference in Florida as well as participate on the faculty at the AISAP Summer Institute in La Jolla along with Brendan (We will both be participating at this year’s summer institute in Nashville). Not only does he communicate timely advice in his blog, he is also a gifted communicator who speaks from his own experiences.

Recently, I became aware that Brendan will lead a two-day AISAP Leadership Summit on “Internet Marketing for Schools: How to Create, Craft, Implement and Sustain your School’s Internet Marketing Campaign in order to increase traffic, yield and revenue.” (Whew! That’s a long title!) This summit will be held on Wednesday, June 12, to Thursday, June 13, at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center (too bad it’s not football season!).

This is one conference that you should add to your professional development schedule for this summer. Knowing Brendan, these two days will be packed full of helpful and practical strategies that you can implement immediately at your school.

Recently I conducted a virtual interview with Brendan through email about this event and I wanted to share his responses with you. Read what Brendan has to say about this AISAP Leadership Summit:

1. What is your vision for the AISAP inbound marketing Leadership Summit?

“My vision with this first cohort is to share the what, why, and how to utilize inbound marketing effectively to help participants reach their enrollment goals. Although being strategic about enrollment has always been important I believe that the economic meltdown of 2008-2009 has made it a necessity. Couple these economic woes with an ever discerning consumer, i.e. prospective parents, and the rise of social media and inbound marketing becomes a requirement and those schools who understand and implement this strategy will succeed and those that don’t will continue to suffer.”

2. What are the main inbound marketing issues that will be addressed?

“Over the course of two days in Pittsburgh participants will:

  • develop an understanding of inbound marketing vs. traditional (or outbound) marketing principles.
  • learn the inbound marketing system which will help them get found by prospective families and convert those families into inquiries.
  • gain an understanding of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and ways to improve your search engine ranking through on-page and off-page techniques.
  • understand the proper use of social media and it’s place within an inbound marketing system.
  • learn how to create a blog as well as other social media channels for your school.
  • begin to appreciate the role of analytics and tracking in making marketing decisions for your school using data.”

3. What motivated you to lead this course?

“After three hundred blog posts, over 35,000 tweets, and many speaking opportunities on covering the topics of inbound marketing and social media I realized that I had never shared my entire inbound marketing system from beginning to end. I also realized that through emails, phone calls, and conversations that there was a desire from school people to learn and apply the inbound marketing principles at their school. I just felt like the timing was right for a class like this.”

4. Give me an overview of the conference.

“The Summit will happen over the course of two days and will be broken down into small modules with each module including a discussion of theory, a review of what I do at Sewickley Academy, and finally a time for participants to actually create and put into practice the tools and ideas we discuss. I anticipate that each participant will leave the Summit with the tools and knowledge in place to begin using inbound marketing at their school.

I’m also very excited because I don’t want the learning and support to end after the conference. Through the AISAP website I will create a private forum where only participants in this course will have access. The forum will be used to stay in touch during the year as well as serve as a place where we all can ask questions and support each other.”

5. Who should plan to attend this conference? What level of inbound marketing experience is needed?

“Great question! Honestly, no experience is needed and as part of the Summit there will be a common book that we will all read prior to the course to get us on the same page with regard to inbound marketing. As far as who should attend I would recommend anyone working on the external side of school, i.e. admissions, advancement, communications, marketing, and development – really, anyone who wants to understand inbound marketing and what it ‘looks like’ at a school.”

6. What can school leaders expect to take away from this conference?

“School leaders can expect to leave Pittsburgh with an understanding of inbound marketing and how to use it at their school. They will leave with the framework of an inbound marketing system in place and can hit the ground running when they return to their school.”

7. What is the connection between this conference and AISAP?

“I am on the Board of Directors at the Association of Independent School Admission Professionals (AISAP) and admission work and this organization are important to me. In my opinion, AISAP has become the organization for professional development in the independent school world and partnering with AISAP to create this Summit seemed like a great fit.”

8. What are the details for registration? Is there a capacity limit?

“The Summit will be held in my hometown of Pittsburgh and will last for 2 days. Details are available on the AISAP website and there is an early bird rate if you register before June 1st. Space is limited so if you are interested I wouldn’t wait to register.

Make sure you take advantge of this professional development opportunity for your summer learning. I know you will benefit from Brendan’s teaching and practical experience on internet/inbound marketing. And, if you are not an AISAP member school, this is a perfect time to join so that you can take advantage of the membership pricing for this event.

Are you planning to attend this Leadership Summit?

Are there other summer professional development opportunities that you are considering?

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